News

When I’m setting off on a walk I notice that I have a habit of patting my pockets, or going through them, checking I have what I need: keys, tissue, money, phone, glasses, gloves, suncream – whatever I’ll need for the journey.  Perhaps this rings a bell with you.

In this past week another kind of journey has begun.  Christians have set out together on the journey from Ash Wednesday, through the weeks of Lent to Holy Week and Easter Day. The church, with deep wisdom, has given us this season to travel inwardly, to the cross and beyond, in order to grow in faith, in love for God, in compassion for other people, and deeper knowledge of ourselves.  Both the journey and the destination will bring us great blessings, if we travel in the Way.

Sister Joan Chittister, a Benedictine Nun from the US says that for this journey we need two pockets, each will carry a message of truth about our identity. In one pocket there is the message, ‘I am dust and ashes’ (simply mortal, fallible, sometimes helpless, always human). And in the other, ‘For me, the universe was made’ (I am the precious child of God, the creator of planets, stars, moons and galaxies).  With these two truths we begin the journey of Lent knowing both our great worth to God, and our utter need of God.

St Mark’s gospel this morning shows us Jesus beginning his public ministry.  Jesus emerges fully formed on to the public stage, coming from Nazareth to be baptized by John in the River Jordan. John has been calling people to baptism for the repentance of sins.  And now Jesus the one without sin, joins the queue. Our loving Saviour humbly joins us in our humanity and identifies with us in all our human frailty.

And as he comes up out of the water there’s a tremendous heavenly affirmation; he sees the heavens torn apart, the Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove and a voice comes from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

And after this sublime assurance, we’re told, Jesus is driven out into the desert by the Holy Spirit to be tempted for 40 days, among the wild beasts, and the angels will minister to him.

So, we see those two aspects again, both extreme vulnerability and testing and sublime affirmation.

Jesus spends 40 days and nights in the desert.  I’d like us to think about this desert and its meaning for us.  The desert is a harsh, exposed and lonely place in which to survive and for Jesus it represents a time of testing, and inner struggle.  If Eden was a walled and fertile garden where all needs were met and the chaos of the wilderness was kept at bay, then the desert is its absolute opposite. Good things happen in the desert but its also a place where danger and death are a constant possibility.

By simply seeking silence and solitude, a taste of the desert, even for short periods, we too can find out more about God and ourselves. Seeking silence may of course, expose our own inner struggles that we usually try to fend off with noise and activity.  Theres a famous monastic saying: ‘Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.’

There is challenge, and blessing, in silence.

We can also experience the desert as, not willingly chosen, but as a result of circumstances, beyond our control.  There are many kinds of unsought desert. This Holy Week we’ll be focussing on humanity and healing and I’d like to share some insights with you from a Chaplain at a specialist cancer treatment hospital and how he sees the desert experience happening there.  He talks about treatment that, because it compromises the immune system leads to periods of isolation.  This is what he says:

‘For people who are used to living a busy life in the constant company of others, the unfamiliar territory of solitude and confinement can be a major challenge. [as well as]…facing a life-threatening illness, people often find themselves in the position of having a lot more time alone with their thoughts and memories than they’ve ever had before. There really is nowhere to hide and the challenge of dealing with what arises in the place of solitude and silence is a considerable one.’

Medical treatment can be a desert experience. I expect that some of us can relate to that very vividly.  Danger and blessing, fear and healing, constraint and possibility, loneliness and significant encounter, are all in the hospital as in the desert.

The Chaplain writes that theres often an inner struggle: not just with the illness, but with despair, fear and tiredness. There is the need for perseverance, and patience. Its often a testing time for relationships, and often, the Chaplain found that patients who knew their need of God experienced God’s love and transforming grace in a new and powerful way. [1]

After his experience in the desert, with its dangers and its blessings, we see that Jesus emerges with a clear understanding of his calling and identity; proclaiming the good news of God, the nearness of the Kingdom and the need to repent and believe.

Lent is a time for us to learn more about our identity, who we are and who we are not, for seeking solitude, some desert time, or patiently seeking to find God’s grace in the deserts we have not chosen. I do pray that you are blessed in this journey, this Lent.

I’d like to end with two contrasting images of our journey with and to God, that express to me those two truths about our humanity.

This beautiful image of the Father embracing his son, the prodigal who has come back to him, repentant, in utter needs, reminds us that all of us are fallible and prone to sin.  The Father represents the love of God, more than ready to forgive and longing for our return. Whatever we’ve done, we are loved. Never forget that this is how Gods loves you.

And here a touching and dear painting by Vincent Van Gogh inspired by a drawing by Millet, entitled ‘First steps’, where a mother steadies her infant and the father, at a short distance, kneels and throws open his arms to encourage the child’s first steps. This too is how God loves us, delights in us, sees infinite potential in us, encourages us to take steps and grow.  Never forget this is how God loves you.

IN these holy days of Lent, may God bless our journey, and lead us all into a deeper knowledge of Gods compassion and experience of his love and grace.

Amen.

[1] John McLuckie Desert Spirituality in Hospital  Spirituality Vol 18 2012 pp 95 – 101